Physical token-less security screening using biometrics

ABSTRACT

In physical token-less security screening using biometrics, a person provides biometric data to a security computing device as part of a security screening. The biometric data is used by the security computing device to look up an identifier (such as an airline account identifier or a security status identifier) for the person from a security back end. The identifier is used by the security computing device to obtain electronic pass information (such as an electronic boarding pass or a security screening status indicator) from a third party computing system (such as an airline computing system or a clearinghouse), which may be used to clear the person and/or otherwise facilitate the security screening. In some implementations, these techniques may also be used for physical token-less pass processing (such as boarding pass-less airline processing, confirmation of assigned traveling credentials, or determination of security protocols).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/958,734, filed Apr. 20, 2018, and titled“Physical Token-Less Security Screening Using Biometrics,” which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/717,416,filed Sep. 27, 2017, and titled “Physical Token-Less Security UsingBiometrics,” which is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/618,659, filed Jun. 9, 2017, and titled“Physical Token-Less Security Screening Using Biometrics,” now U.S. Pat.No. 9,870,459, issued Jan. 16, 2018, which is a continuation applicationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/154,823, filed May 13, 2016, andtitled “Physical Token-Less Security Screening Using Biometrics,” nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,721,081, issued Aug. 1, 2017, which claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/161,330, filed May 14,2015, and titled “Physical Token-Less Security Screening UsingBiometrics,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to security screening, and morespecifically to security screening using biometrics without obtainingphysical tokens.

BACKGROUND

There are a variety of different situations in which service or otherproviders issue tickets or similar tokens to customers, which may bephysical tokens or electronic tokens presented via physical electronicdevices such as smart phones. In many situations, security screening foruse of the tickets may be performed by a party other than the issuer ofthe ticket.

For example, people may be able to obtain tickets for flights at anairport from a variety of different airlines. Security screening at theairport is typically provided by a centralized authority that isseparate from any of the airlines, such as the Transportation SecurityAdministration. Such security screening may involve having peoplepresent boarding passes provided by an airline as well as some form ofidentification token. After clearing security, people may again presentsuch a boarding pass at a gate in order to board a flight. Governmentregulators may also assign certain traveling credentials, such asstatuses related to screening level or eligibility for expeditedscreening.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, apparatuses, andcomputer program products for physical token-less security screeningusing biometrics (such as boarding pass-less airport security screeningfor flyers or boarding pass-less confirmation of assigned travelingcredentials). A person may provide biometric data to a securitycomputing device as part of a security screening. The biometric data maybe used to look up an identifier for the person from a computing backend. The identifier may be used to have electronic pass information(such as electronic boarding pass information or a security screeningstatus indicator) sent to the computing device, which may be used toclear the person and/or otherwise facilitate the security screening. Insome implementations, these techniques may also be used for physicaltoken-less pass processing (such as boarding pass-less airlineprocessing or boarding pass-less determination of security protocols).

In various embodiments, a security screening computing device mayinclude a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions, acommunication component communicably connected to a back end and thirdparty computing system (such as an airline computing system) and aprocessing unit coupled to the non-transitory storage medium and thecommunication component. The processing unit may execute theinstructions to receive biometric data for a person (such as an image ofa fingerprint), obtain a third party account identifier for the person(which may be an airline account identifier such as a frequent flyernumber) from the back end in response to transmitting the biometricdata, and retrieve electronic pass information (which may be electronicboarding pass information, or a security screening status indicator, andmay include a real time status of the electronic boarding passinformation) for the person from the third party computing system inresponse to transmitting the third party account identifier.

In some examples, the processing unit may further execute theinstructions to determine that the person is authorized for securityscreening based on the electronic pass information.

In various examples, the security screening computing device may alsoinclude a display component operable to display the electronic passinformation and/or a biometric reader operable to detect the biometricdata for the person.

In some embodiments, a method for security screening may includeobtaining biometric data for a person utilizing a computing device (suchas a security station computing device), transmitting the biometric datato a back end from the computing device, receiving an identifier at thecomputing device from the back end in response to transmitting thebiometric data, transmitting the identifier from the computing device toan airline computing system, receiving electronic boarding passinformation for the person at the computing device from the airlinecomputing system in response to transmitting the identifier, anddetermining whether or not to clear the person for security screeningutilizing the computing device based at least on the electronic boardingpass information for the person.

In some examples, said determining operation may include determiningwhether or not the electronic boarding pass information indicates theperson has a flight at an airport associated with the computing deviceand/or the flight is within a time period. In various examples, saiddetermining operation may include determining not to clear the personfor security screening if the electronic boarding pass informationindicates that a ticket associated with the electronic boarding passinformation has been cancelled. In various other examples, saiddetermining operation may include determining whether to offer expeditedor supplemental screening at the airport.

In various examples, the method may also include receiving additionalbiometric data at the back end from an airline computing device, lookingup the identifier based on the additional biometric data and providingthe identifier to the airline computing device for purposes ofidentification. The airline computing device may utilize the identifieras part of a check in or boarding process.

In various embodiments, a computer program product, tangibly embodied ina non-transitory storage medium may include a first set of instructions,stored in a non-transitory storage medium, executable by a processingunit to receive a frequent flyer identifier for a person from a back endin response to transmitting fingerprint data obtained from the person; asecond set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium,executable by the processing unit to obtain electronic boarding passinformation for the person from an airline computing system in responseto transmitting the frequent flyer identifier for the person; and athird set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storage medium,executable by the processing unit to facilitate a security screeningprocess (which may be a prescreened security screening process) bydisplaying the electronic boarding pass information (which may include acurrent status of a flight for which the person has a ticket).

In some examples, displaying the electronic boarding pass informationmay include displaying whether or not the person has a ticket for aflight that day at an airport where the processing unit is located.

In various examples, the person may not provide a boarding pass and/oridentification other than the fingerprint data as part of the securityscreening process.

In various embodiments, a method for security screening may includeobtaining biometric data for a person utilizing a computing device;transmitting the biometric data to a back end from the computing device;receiving an identifier at the computing device from the back end inresponse to transmitting the biometric data; transmitting the identifierfrom the computing device to a clearinghouse; receiving a securityscreening status indicator for the person at the computing device fromthe clearinghouse in response to transmitting the identifier; anddetermining whether or not to clear the person for security screeningutilizing the computing device based at least on the security screeningstatus indicator for the person.

In some embodiments, a computer program product, tangibly embodied in anon-transitory storage medium may include a first set of instructions,stored in a non-transitory storage medium, executable by a processingunit to receive a security status identifier for a person from a backend in response to transmitting fingerprint data obtained from theperson; a second set of instructions, stored in the non-transitorystorage medium, executable by the processing unit to obtain a securityscreening status indicator for the person from a clearinghouse inresponse to transmitting the security status identifier for the person;and a third set of instructions, stored in the non-transitory storagemedium, executable by the processing unit to facilitate a securityscreening process by displaying the security screening status indicator.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are for purposes of example andexplanation and do not necessarily limit the present disclosure. Theaccompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a partof the specification, illustrate subject matter of the disclosure.Together, the descriptions and the drawings serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for boarding pass-lessairport security screening for flyers.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for boarding pass-lessairport security screening for flyers. This method may be performed bythe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of additional operationsthat may be performed as part of the method of FIG. 2 in someimplementations.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a boarding pass-less airlineprocessing system.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for boarding pass-lessairline processing. This method may be performed by the system of FIG.4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes sample systems, methods, andcomputer program products that embody various elements of the presentdisclosure. However, it should be understood that the describeddisclosure may be practiced in a variety of forms in addition to thosedescribed herein.

Having people present physical tokens (such as boarding passes) orphysical evidence of such tokens (such as electronic tokens presentedvia an electronic device such as a smart phone) and/or identification atsecurity screening may be burdensome for both the people and thesecurity screening process. A person may be burdened by obtaining such aphysical token, making sure he has appropriate identification, andhaving both available in hand during security screening. Securityscreening may be burdened by having to ensure that an appropriateboarding pass and valid appropriate identification is provided.

Further, tokens such as boarding passes are often printed documentsand/or electronic representations thereof. As typical security screeningis unaware of the actual source of such printed documents or electronicrepresentations, security screening may be unable to detect forgeries.Additionally, even when the tokens were authorized at the time they wereissued to a person, security screening may have no way of ascertainingwhether or not they have subsequently been cancelled.

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, apparatuses, andcomputer program products for physical token-less security screeningusing biometrics (such as boarding pass-less airport security screeningfor flyers). A person may provide biometric data to a security computingdevice as part of a security screening. The biometric data may be usedto look up an identifier for the person from a computing back end. Theidentifier may be used to have electronic pass information (such aselectronic boarding pass information) sent to the computing device,which may be used to clear the person and/or otherwise facilitate thesecurity screening. In some implementations, these techniques may alsobe used for physical token-less pass processing (such as boardingpass-less airline processing). The identifier may alternatively and/oradditionally be used to look up a security screening status indicatorfor the person from a computing back end, which may be sent to thecomputing device and used to convey specific security protocols to usein screening the person.

In some implementations, these techniques may also be used for physicaltoken-less pass processing, such as boarding pass-less airlineprocessing. For example, an airline computing device may obtainbiometric data from a person which is used to obtain an identifier froma security screening back end. Based on the identifier, the airlinecomputing device may obtain electronic boarding pass information thatmay be used for check in, boarding, and so on. As such, airlineprocessing such as check in and boarding may also be performed withoutpeople providing boarding passes and/or identification other than thebiometric.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 for boardingpass-less airport security screening for flyers. The system 100 mayinclude a security station computing device 101 communicably coupled toa security back end 103 and an airline computing system 104 via one ormore wired or wireless communication networks 102.

The security station computing device 101 may include one or moreprocessing units 105, non-transitory storage media 106 (which may takethe form of, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage medium; opticalstorage medium; magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory; randomaccess memory; erasable programmable memory; flash memory; and so on),communication units 107, displays 108, and/or biometric readers 109(such as one or more fingerprint or palm print scanners, retinalscanners, and so on). Similarly, the security back end 103 and/or theairline computing system 104 may include one or more processing units110 and 114, storage media 112 and 116, and/or communication units 111and 115. Each of the security station computing device 101, the securityback end 103, and/or the airline computing system 104 may be one or moreof a variety of different computing devices such as a desktop computingdevice, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a mobilecomputing device, a smart phone, multiple computing devices in a cloudor other computing system configuration, a server computing device, andso on.

The processing unit 105 of the security station computing device 101 mayexecute one or more instructions stored in the storage media 106 toperform one or more functions for the security station computing device101. For example, the security station computing device 101 may obtainbiometric data (such as an image or other electronic representation of afingerprint, palm print, retina scan, and/or other biometric) from aperson. The security station computing device 101 may transmit thebiometric data to the security back end 103, which may use the biometricdata to look up an identifier for the person (such as a frequent flyeridentifier or other airline identifier) in a data store 113 stored inthe storage media 112. In response, the security station computingdevice 101 may receive the identifier from the security back end 103.The security station computing device 101 may transmit the identifier tothe airline computing system 104, which may look up electronic boardingpass information for the person based on the identifier in ticket data117 stored in the storage media 116. In response, the security stationcomputing device 101 may receive the electronic boarding passinformation from the airline computing system 104.

The security station computing device 101 may display the electronicboarding pass information on the display 108 as part of the securityscreening process, such as to clear the person and/or otherwisefacilitate the security screening. For example, security screeningpersonnel may check the displayed boarding pass information to verifythat the person is authorized to enter the airport and then search theperson and/or any belongings of the person to verify that the personmeets one or more security screening criteria. In this way, the securityscreening may be performed without the person providing a boarding passand/or identification other than the biometric.

This may simplify security screening for the security screeningprovider, the person, and/or the airline in a number of ways. Forexample, the person may be freed from having to obtain and/or produce aboarding pass and/or identification. By way of another example, thesecurity screening provider may not have to train security personnel toevaluate the validity of various forms of identification (such as stateissued identification, passports, and so on). Additionally a securityscreening provider may receive authorization to provide different levelsof physical screening.

Additionally, as the electronic boarding pass information is obtainedfrom the airline computing system 104, the electronic boarding passinformation cannot be forged by the person or similar party. Since theelectronic boarding pass information is obtained in real time, theelectronic boarding pass information can include a current status of theelectronic boarding pass information (such as whether or not a ticketassociated with the electronic boarding pass was cancelled subsequent topurchase, current gate and/or delay information, and so on), which maybe used to determine whether or not to clear the person for the securityscreening.

In some implementations, the security station computing device 101 mayvalidate the electronic boarding pass information. For example, thesecurity station computing device 101 may determine whether or not theelectronic boarding pass information indicates the person has a ticketfor a flight at an airport at which the security station computingdevice 101 operates and/or is otherwise associated within a particulartime period (such as that calendar day, within twenty four hours, and soon). The security station computing device 101 may present suchvalidation information (such as via the display 108) to facilitate thesecurity screening process by security screening personnel.

In various implementations, the above described security screeningprocess may be part of a prescreened security process. In such aprescreened security process, the person may enroll in or be selectedfor a program where the person is determined to be less of a securityrisk than the general population such that the person is entitled to alower security screening than the general population upon providingidentification. Providing the biometric data to the security stationcomputing device 101 may be that identification and proof ofparticipation.

Although the present disclosure is illustrated and described within thecontext of security screening for airports, airlines, and electronicboarding pass information, it is understood that this is an example. Invarious implementations, techniques of the present disclosure may beused in any context where a security screening provider performssecurity screening for a service or other provider that issues any kindof ticket or other kind of token to customers without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

For example, a person may be issued a badge for entering a particulararea such as a garage by an operator of the area. The person may bescreened for entry into the area by third party security. In such anexample, the person may provide a biometric to security computingdevice. The security computing device may use the biometric to look upan identifier for the person associated with the operator of the areausing a security back end and obtain access information from a virtualversion of the badge obtained from a computing device of the operator ofthe area using the identifier. In this way, the third party security maybe able to determine whether or not the person can be cleared to accessthe area without the person presenting the badge and/or identificationother than the biometric, or what level of screening the person shouldexperience.

The system 100 may include a clearinghouse 120 (a central databasecontaining information on individuals) communicably coupled to thesecurity station computing device 101 via the communication network 102.The clearinghouse 120 (which may include components similar to thesecurity station computing device 101, the security backend 103, and/orthe airline computing system 104) may be operated by a government orsimilarly associated agency and may store security screening statusindicators associated with identifiers for various persons.

The security station computing device 101 may transmit the identifierfor the person (which may be a security status identifier stored by andreceived from the security backend 103) to the clearinghouse 120(whether directly or via the security backend 103) and receive asecurity screening status indicator in response. This security screeningstatus indicator may be provided to personnel operating the securitystation computing device 101 to instruct the personnel regardingsecurity protocols to use in clearing the person and/or otherwiseutilized in clearing the person according to the security protocols.

For example, the clearinghouse 120 may be operated by a governmentagency as part of a prescreened security process. The clearinghouse 120may store security screening status indicators for persons who have beenprescreened and are thus eligible for a reduced security screeningprocess. In such an example, the security station computing device 101may transmit the identifier for the person to the clearinghouse 120 andreceive back a security screening status indicator that indicateswhether or not the person is eligible for the reduced screening process.

However, it is understood that this is an example and that the securityscreening status indicator may include other information. For example,in some implementations the security screening status indicator mayindicate that a person is a heightened security risk and should bescreened using a heightened security process.

In various implementations, the system 100 may include both theclearinghouse 120 and the airline computing system 104 and theidentifier may be utilized to obtain electronic boarding passinformation from the airline computing system 104 and a securityscreening status indicator from the clearinghouse 120. However, in otherimplementations the system 100 may include one of the clearinghouse 120(to which one or more identifiers may be communicated to obtain thesecurity screening status indicator) or the airline computing system 104(to which one or more identifiers may be communicated to obtain theelectronic boarding pass information). Various configurations arepossible and contemplated.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method 200 for boarding pass-lessairport security screening for flyers. This method 200 may be performedby the system 100 of FIG. 1.

At 201, a computing device may operate. At 202, the computing device maydetermine whether or not a new person is to be cleared as part of asecurity screening process. If not, the flow may return to 201 where thecomputing device continues to operate. Otherwise, the flow may proceedto 203.

At 203, after the computing device determines a new person is to becleared, the computing device may prompt for the person to provide abiometric. The flow may then proceed to 204 where the computing devicedetermines whether or not the requested biometric has been provided. Ifnot, the flow may return to 203 where the computing device continues toprompt the person to provide the biometric. Otherwise, the flow mayproceed to 205.

At 205, after the requested biometric is provided, the computing devicemay look up the identity of the person. The computing device may look upthe identity of the person by transmitting the biometric to a back endand receiving an identifier such as a frequent flyer number or otherairline identifier from the back end in response. The back end may matchthe biometric to a user account or other data store entry thatidentifies the person associated with the biometric along with otherinformation. For example, the information may include name, address,phone number, driver's license or identification card number, passportnumber, one or more frequent flyer numbers, other airline identifiers,and/or other identifiers. The flow may then proceed to 206.

At 206, the computing device may transmit the identifier to an airlinecomputing system. The airline computing system may use the identifier tolook up real time boarding pass information and/or other real timeinformation related to flights or other tickets associated with theidentifier. The flow may then proceed to 207 where the computing devicereceives electronic boarding pass information from the airline computingsystem in response to transmitting the identifier.

Next, the flow may proceed to 208 where the computing device may verifythe electronic boarding pass information. Such verification may includedetermining whether or not to clear the person for security screening.For example, said determining operation may include the computing deviceverifying that the electronic boarding pass information indicates thatthe person has a flight at the airport associated with the computingdevice, that the flight is that day or within a certain time period(such as twenty four hours), and so on. If the computing devicesuccessfully verifies the electronic boarding pass information, the flowproceeds to 209. Otherwise, if the computing device unsuccessfullyattempts to verify the electronic boarding pass information, the flowproceeds to 210.

At 209, after the computing device successfully verifies the electronicboarding pass information, the computing device displays the electronicboarding pass information. This display of the electronic boarding passinformation may be part of a security screening process, such as toclear the person and/or otherwise facilitate the security screening. Thedisplay may present any verifications that were performed as well asvarious information about the person and/or the electronic boarding passinformation.

At 210, after the computing device unsuccessfully attempts to verify theelectronic boarding pass information, the computing device may output anerror message before the flow returns to 201 and the computing devicecontinues to operate. Such an error may include errors that the persondoes not have a flight at the airport associate with the computingdevice, the person has been flagged (such as on a no flight or similarscreening list), the person does not have a flight that day or withinthe certain time period, the person has no electronic boarding passinformation, the person could not be identified, and/or any other sucherror.

Although the example method 200 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, although 205-207 are illustrated and described as lookingup the identity of a person, transmitting an identifier to the airlinecomputing system, and receiving electronic boarding pass informationfrom the airline computing system, it is understood that this is anexample. In various cases, one or more such operations may result in anerror. For example, the identify of a person may not be able to beascertained (such as where the biometric is not matched to anything inthe back end) and an identifier may thus not be obtainable, the identityof a person may be ascertained but the back end may not store anyidentifiers, the airline computing system may not have any boarding passinformation associated with the identifier, and so on. In such cases,the flow may proceed in the event of an error from any of 205-207 to 210without proceeding through any of the other subsequent illustratedoperations.

Additionally, in some implementations one or more additional operationsmay be performed. For example, FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating anexample of additional operations 300 that may be performed as part oflooking up the identity of the person 205 of the method 200 of FIG. 2.

At 301, the computing device determines whether or not the biometricmatches an identity or other entry in the data store of the back end.This may be determined by the computing device communicating with theback end. If so, the flow may proceed to 305. Otherwise, the flow mayproceed to 302.

At 302, after the computing device determines the biometric does notmatch an identity or other entry in the data store of the back end, thecomputing device may prompt for enrollment. This may be because the lackof a match between the biometric and an identity in the data store ofthe back end may mean that the person has not enrolled in the system forboarding pass-less airport security screening with which the computingdevice is associated. As such, the person may be prompted to enroll.Such enrollment may involve the participation of security personnel atthe computing device, such as where such security personnel verify aphysical form of identification such as a state issued driver's licenseor identification card.

The flow may then proceed to 303 where the computing device maydetermine whether or not the person has enrolled. If so, the flow mayproceed to 305. Otherwise, the flow may proceed to 304 where thecomputing device may output an error that the person is not enrolled.

At 305, after the computing device determines the biometric matches anidentity or other entry in the data store of the back end, the computingdevice may determine whether or not an airline or other identifier isstored in the data store of the back end. This may also be determined bythe computing device communicating with the back end. If so, the flowmay proceed to 308 where the computing device may transmit the airlineor other identifier to the airline computing system. Otherwise, the flowmay proceed to 306.

At 306, the computing device may prompt the person to provide theairline or other identifier. The flow may then proceed to 307 where thecomputing device determines whether or not the airline or otheridentifier is provided. If so, the flow may proceed to 308 where thecomputing device may transmit the airline or other identifier to theairline computing system. Otherwise, the flow may proceed to 304 wherethe computing device may output an error that electronic boarding passinformation cannot be obtained.

Although the additional operations 300 are illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, in some implementations a person may not be able to enrollat the computing device. In such an implementation, the flow may proceedfrom 301 directly to 304 and the person may utilize other means toenroll.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a boarding pass-less airlineprocessing system 400. The system 400 may include an airline stationcomputing device 401 communicably coupled to a security back end 103 andan airline computing system 104 via one or more wired or wirelesscommunication networks 102 (which in some implementations may be thesecurity back end 103, the airline computing system 104, and/or thenetwork 102 of the system 100 of FIG. 1).

Similar to the security station computing device 101 of the system 100of FIG. 1, the airline station computing device 401 may include one ormore processing units 405, non-transitory storage media 406,communication units 407, displays 408, and/or biometric readers 409. Theprocessing unit 405 may execute one or more instructions stored in thestorage media 406 to perform one or more functions relate to check in offlyers (such as purchasing flights or upgrades to existing flights,confirming that a person will be on a flight, assigning seat numbers,checking baggage, and so on), boarding of flyers (such as allowing aperson on board a flight, confirming that the person has gone on boardthe flight, and so on), and so on.

For example, the processing unit 405 may execute instructions allowingthe airline station computing device 401 to obtain biometric data from aperson, transmit the biometric data to the security back end 103,receive an identifier for the person from the security back end 103,transmit the identifier to the airline computing system 104, and receiveelectronic boarding pass information from the airline computing system104. The airline station computing device 401 may then display theelectronic boarding pass information on the display 408 as part ofand/or to otherwise facilitate check in, boarding, and/or otheroperations.

In this way, a person may be able to check in, board, and/or participatein other operations without obtaining a boarding pass and/or providingidentification other than the biometric. When combined with the system100 of FIG. 1, a person may be able to proceed through an entire airportexperience without ever obtaining a boarding pass and/or providingidentification other than the biometric. This may be a less burdensomeprocess for flyers and/or airlines than a traditional airline processingsystem. This may also be more cost effective for airlines as they may beable to omit issuing boarding passes to flyers, training staff tovalidate various forms of identification, and so on.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method 500 for boarding pass-lessairline processing. This method 500 may be performed by the system 400of FIG. 4.

At 501, a computing device may operate. At 502, the computing device maydetermine whether or not a new customer is to be processed. Suchprocessing may be for check in, boarding, and/or other airlineprocessing operations. If not, the flow may return to 501 where thecomputing device continues to operate. Otherwise, the flow may proceedto 503.

At 503, after the computing device determines a new customer is to beprocessed, the computing device may prompt for the person to provide abiometric. The flow may then proceed to 504 where the computing devicemay transmit the biometric to a back end of a security system. The backend of the security system may match the biometric to a user account orother data store entry that identifies the person associated with thebiometric and may provide an airline and/or other identifier inresponse.

Next, the flow may proceed to 505 where the computing device determineswhether or not an airline and/or other identifier is received from theback end of the security system in response to transmitting theidentifier. If not, the flow may proceed to 506. Otherwise, the flow mayproceed to 507.

At 506, after the computing device determines that the airline and/orother identifier for the person is not received, the computing devicemay output an error message. The flow may then return to 501 where thecomputing device continues to operate.

At 507, after the computing device determines that the airline and/orother identifier for the person is received, the computing device maylook up ticket data and/or other boarding pass information based on theairline and/or other identifier. For example, the computing device maytransmit the airline and/or other identifier to an airline computingsystem and receive the ticket data and/or other boarding passinformation in response.

Next, the flow may proceed to 508 where the computing device may performone or more check in, boarding, and/or other airline processingoperations using the ticket data and/or other boarding pass information.The flow may then return to 501 where the computing device continues tooperate.

Although the example method 500 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the example method 500 is illustrated and described at505-506 as outputting an error message if an identifier for the personis not received. However, in various implementations the computingdevice may utilize other mechanisms to identify the person if anidentifier is not received. For example, the computing device may directan operator to manually identify the person by having the person produceas state issued driver's license or identification card, passport, orother form of identification. Various configurations are possible andcontemplated.

As described above and illustrated in the accompanying figures, thepresent disclosure relates to systems, methods, apparatuses, andcomputer program products for boarding pass-less airport securityscreening for flyers. A person may provide biometric data such as afingerprint to a computing device as part of a security screening. Thebiometric data may be used to look up an identifier such as a frequentflyer number for the person from a back end. The identifier may be usedto have electronic boarding pass information sent to the computingdevice, which may be used to clear the person and/or otherwisefacilitate the security screening. In this way, the security screeningmay be performed without the user providing a boarding pass and/oridentification other than the biometric. In some implementations, thesetechniques may also be used for boarding pass-less airline processing.

In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented assets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are examples of sample approaches. In other embodiments, thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The described disclosure may be provided as a computer program product,or software, that may include a non-transitory machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program acomputer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a processaccording to the present disclosure. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g.,software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The non-transitory machine-readable medium may take the formof, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppydiskette, video cassette, and so on); optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM andEEPROM); flash memory; and so on.

It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its attendantadvantages will be understood by the foregoing description, and it willbe apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction,and arrangement of the components without departing from the disclosedsubject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages.The form described is merely explanatory, and it is the intention of thefollowing claims to encompass and include such changes.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tovarious embodiments, it will be understood that these embodiments areillustrative and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited tothem. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements arepossible. More generally, embodiments in accordance with the presentdisclosure have been described in the context or particular embodiments.Functionality may be separated or combined in blocks differently invarious embodiments of the disclosure or described with differentterminology. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of the disclosure as defined inthe claims that follow.

We claim:
 1. A screening system, comprising: at least one non-transitorystorage medium storing a set of instructions; at least one communicationcomponent communicably connected to a third party ticketing system; andat least one processing unit communicably coupled to the at least onenon-transitory storage medium and the at least one communicationcomponent, the at least one processing unit operative to execute the setof instructions in order to: ascertain a third party ticketing accountidentifier for a person based on a digital representation of biometricdata for the person, wherein the digital representation of the biometricdata is not included in the third party ticketing account identifier;receive ticket data and a real time status of the ticket data from thethird party ticketing system based on the third party ticketing accountidentifier; and approve access for the person based at least on theticket data and a real time status of the ticket data.
 2. The screeningsystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing unit comprises atleast: a first processing unit of a first computing device; and a secondprocessing unit of a second computing device that is communicablycoupled to the first computing device.
 3. The screening system of claim1, wherein the at least one processing unit transmits a notification tothe third party ticketing system upon approving access for the person.4. The screening system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processingunit approves access for the person if the real time status of theticket data indicates the ticket data is still valid.
 5. The screeningsystem of claim 1, wherein the ticket data comprises informationregarding multiple tickets for the person.
 6. The screening system ofclaim 5, further comprising a display device wherein the at least oneprocessing unit presents the information regarding the multiple ticketson the display.
 7. The screening system of claim 6, wherein the at leastone processing unit approves access for the person based upon one of themultiple tickets.
 8. A screening system, comprising: at least onenon-transitory storage medium storing a set of instructions; at leastone communication component communicably connected to a group of thirdparty ticketing systems; and at least one processing unit communicablycoupled to the at least one non-transitory storage medium and the atleast one communication component, the at least one processing unitoperative to execute the set of instructions in order to: ascertain atleast one third party ticketing account identifier for a person based ona digital representation of biometric data for the person, wherein thedigital representation of the biometric data is not included in the atleast one third party ticketing account identifier; receive ticket datafrom the group of third party ticketing systems based on the at leastone third party ticketing account identifier; and approve access for theperson based at least on the ticket data.
 9. The screening system ofclaim 8, wherein the ticket data comprises: first ticket data from afirst of the group of third party ticketing systems; and second ticketdata from a second of the group of third party ticketing systems. 10.The screening system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processingunit records that the ticket data has been used.
 11. The screeningsystem of claim 8, wherein the at least one processing unit approvesaccess for the person if a current time is within a time periodassociated with the ticket data.
 12. The screening system of claim 8,wherein the at least one processing unit comprises at least: a firstprocessing unit of a first computing device; and a second processingunit of a second computing device that is communicably coupled to thefirst computing device.
 13. The screening system of claim 8, wherein theat least one processing unit receives a current status of the ticketdata from the group of third party ticketing systems.
 14. The screeningsystem of claim 8, wherein the at least one processing unit processes apurchase related to the ticket data.
 15. A screening system, comprising:at least one non-transitory storage medium storing a set ofinstructions; at least one communication component communicablyconnected to a third party ticketing system; and at least one processingunit communicably coupled to the at least one non-transitory storagemedium and the at least one communication component, the at least oneprocessing unit operative to execute the set of instructions in orderto: ascertain a third party ticketing account identifier for a personbased on a digital representation of biometric data for the person,wherein the digital representation of the biometric data is not includedin the third party ticketing account identifier; receive ticket datafrom the third party ticketing system based on the third party ticketingaccount identifier; and if the ticket data indicates that the person hasa valid ticket for access, approve access for the person.
 16. Thescreening system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processing unitdenies access for the person if the ticket data is no longer valid. 17.The screening system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processingunit receives current information associated with the ticket data fromthe third party ticketing system.
 18. The screening system of claim 17,wherein the at least one processing unit presents the currentinformation associated with the ticket data via a presentation device.19. The screening system of claim 15, wherein the at least oneprocessing unit comprises at least: a first processing unit of a firstcomputing device; and a second processing unit of a second computingdevice that is communicably coupled to the first computing device. 20.The screening system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processingunit processes an upgrade related to the ticket data.